Falling to Earth

Falling to Earth

Description Falling to Earth is the culmination of a two year residency at the Institute for Studies in the Arts. During the first year of the residency the dancers and I explored the sensing environment of the Intelligent Stage with its designers Robb Lovell and John D. Mitchell. The interactive environment had implications for movement quality sensation, and vocabulary, while the indeterminacy of triggered responses (sound, lighting, video, etc.) had implications for the investigation of randomness, structure and form. I held informal interviews with the dancers from which emerged many of the themes of the piece, and during the second year we began forming the work, integrating what we had learned from the prior investigations. Douglas Rosenberg, Julie Mack and Gene Cooper joined the collaboration at this time and with the addition of Doug’s stage design we had an even broader context in which to explore visual metaphor and genre.

Throughout this process, we have remained committed to the creation of a work that is integrated in both form and content, and that presents the tools and technology offered by the lnstitute for Studies in the Arts as part of a balanced and integral whole.”

Ellen Bromberg

Falling to Earth was re-staged in February 1999 and featured at the International dance and Technology 99 conference held at Arizona State University. Three of the four original dancers were replaced, and the choreography and the sound score were both reworked. Over 200 people during IDAT99 attended the four performances of Falling to Earth.

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press release

Choreographer Ellen Bromberg and video-artist Douglas Rosenberg, whose previous collaboration Singing Myself a Lullaby was honored with the prestigious Isadora Duncan Dance Award, are breaking new ground at Arizona State University’s Institute for Studies in the Arts. Working with ISA resident fellow, John D. Mitchell, the three artists have combined their talents to create a work which will integrate interactive technologies with the creative and performing processes.

The collaboration extends the continuum of dance and technology and brings together the artist’s three individual histories drawn from their extensive backgrounds in dance, video, and electronic music. Falling to Earth will be performed in the Intelligent Stage utilizing the tools, technology, and resources available through the Institute and its artists and technologists.